I believe comics are our last link to an ancient way of passing on history. The Egyptians drew on walls, countries all over the world still pass on knowledge through pictorial forms. I believe comics are a form of history that someone somewhere felt or experienced. Then of course, those experience and that history got chewed up in the commercial machine, got jazzed up, made titillating cartoons for the sale rack.
Samuel L. Jackson, Unbreakable (2003)
Spider-Man, Batman, Superman, The Flash, Iron Man – we’ve all grown up with these figures of fiction. Most of us would’ve outgrown the infatuation that the kids would often develop on being introduced to these larger-than-life figures. We might’ve seen cartoons or read the occasional comic book back in the day. But most of us would’ve outgrown such ‘childish’ fantasies. However, there are those of us who still cling on to that part of our childhood that has in part moulded us into the adults we are today. I’m the latter.
I’ll admit, over the past year, my fiery passion for the comic book medium had somewhat tempered. Being a voracious reader myself, with a diverse assortment of genres in my collection of books under the pile ‘read‘, I hadn’t been adding stock to it as I’d normally like. Comic books are up there among my favourite genres. So during this quarantine period, I saw an opportunity to revive my old reading habits. I recently came across a popular Spider-Man based graphic novel titled ‘Spider-Man: Life Story‘ by Chip Zdarsky.
Spider-Man was a character which was once shunned by critics who said that the idea would never take off. Today, it/he is a revered global icon which captures the hearts of children and adults alike due to the character emerging from a normal suburban household, saving the ‘little guy’ and trying to make ends meet at the same time, as opposed to Kryptonian titans or genius billionaires with dark pasts. Spidey has been around for 57 years and this graphic novel is, as the title suggests, a take on the life of Peter Parker and his alter ego from the 1960s to the present day, with classic Spider-Man stories over the decades used in different eras. I loved it. It got that giddy, fan boy side of me jumping, seeing old tales I’ve read back in the day being used so fluidly to make a memoir of sorts for one of my childhood role models.
But this got me thinking at the same time, there are millions out there who think all this should be left to the kids. There are people who have differing opinions on whether these figments of imagination could be appreciated by adults as much as children. Now, this is not a talk of superheroes, who are usually the main subject of a comic book or graphic novel. Comic books are as much a part of literature as full page novels. An artist uses art as a form of visual communication to make it more appealing to the reader, with children being the target demographic as most people would assume.
There was a time when reading comic books and the colourful characters starring in them gave you the title of a ‘nerd’ – a social outcast with no friends but these fictional characters to fulfill his so-called childish whims. Today, film and social media have made sure anyone can like superhero movies as a means of passing the time. However, the perception of comic books being only for children and young adults has not changed as much. Adults today still think graphic novels are something to outgrow in order to be called a ‘grown-up’. I beg to differ.
Comic books became popular primarily in America in the 1930s as a means of propaganda against the Nazis, with classic superheroes saving the day. Over the decades, the depth and quality of the stories evolved, becoming a form of social and even political commentary. The 1980s was the best decade for comic books in my opinion. The literary works that were released in that decade laid the basis of how later generations of comic books would be structured. Some of the greatest works of that decade, The Sandman, V for Vendetta, Maus, Watchmen (a personal favourite of mine) slowly changed the views on the maturity and the quality of this genre. In the present day, with civil rights and LGBTQ rights taking the forefront in society, comic books have been another form of expression. It’s not just superheroes anymore. It’s regular stories told in the form of pictures and speech balloons. It’s people telling their stories through visual representation as a means of connecting with the reader. It doesn’t mean adults can’t read it. In fact, I think it’s more adult-centric today.
I’m a 21 year old Engineering student who can’t get enough of his comic books and most relatives of mine are still shocked to see that I’m still not out of my ‘comic book phase’. I don’t think I ever will. These characters, these role models, these stories have taught me things that have made me the man I am today, and it’ll continue teaching me. It’s my safe haven, it’s what’s taught be how to navigate the social world, it’s a world where there is no discrimination – you can be a 5 year old kid or a 70 year old man and no one having the same passion would judge you. It is still extremely relevant, as much as any other literary genre out there. To this day, I still keep finding new material, new authors and artists to read from and have a look into their take on a story. It’s a wonderful hobby to have, for me at least.
What’s your take on this? Do you feel differently? Do you have the same love for this as I do? Whatever it is, I’d love to hear your side in the comments section. As Stan Lee used to say, ’nuff said.
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